Expect the Unexpected
by Cold Canary
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own Shadowhunters. All recognizable characters and places belong to Cassandra Clare and Freeform. Is set post episode 2x04 "Day of Wrath", so if you have not seen that episode yet, there will be spoilers for it in this story, so please watch that episode before you read.
1. Chapter 1

Expect the Unexpected

Chapter 1

 **Summary:** Alec and Clary wake up to an empty Institute with no idea where anyone else is. They soon find out that their friends and loved ones have been scattered and it's a race for the two young Shadowhunters to find and save their friends before they lose someone else. Will they succeed, or will Alec having killed Clary's mother make it too difficult for these two to get along enough to do what needs to be done?

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Shadowhunters. All recognizable characters and places belong to Cassandra Clare and Freeform. Is set post episode 2x04 "Day of Wrath", so if you have not seen that episode yet, there will be spoilers for it in this story, so please watch that episode before you read.

With a groan, Clary sat up slowly from her bed. Her head was pounding as if she had a hangover, despite not having gone out the night before, so as she sat up, she clutched her head in her hands. When the pounding seemed to subside enough for her to stand up, Clary threw the covers from her body and slid out of bed. Her room seemed unnaturally cold, so instead of heading towards the door like she usually did, Clary padded her way towards the dresser to pull out a sweater. As she slipped her arms into the sleeves, and pulled the material closer to her body, someone started pounding on her door.

"FRAY! OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"

It was Alec. And if Clary wasn't awake before- which, mind you, she wasn't _fully_ awake yet- Alec's yelling and loud knocking was enough to wake her up. With a roll of her eyes, Clary made her way to the door and flung it open to a desperate looking Alec. That wasn't a look Clary was used to seeing on Alec's face, so when it registered that he was, in fact, worried about something, Clary started to get concerned.

"What's wrong Alec? Is Izzy okay?" Clary asked.

"I don't know. That's the problem. Izzy isn't in her room. Neither is Jace. The whole god damn Institute is empty except for the two of us." Alec said as he strode into Clary's room and started opening and closing all her drawers and looking under her bed, almost as if he was hoping he would find everyone else who was supposed to be in the Institute hiding out there.

"Alec, you aren't making any sense. What do you mean the whole Institute is empty?" Clary asked.

"What the hell do you think I mean Fray!?" Alec retorted. "I mean that no one else is here. They are all gone. Nowhere to be found. Vanished into thin air." He finished with an exasperated sigh of frustration as he threw his hands up in the air.

"You need to calm down Alec, I'm sure there's a logical explanation for all of this." Clary said, despite starting to feel concerned herself.

"A logical explanation? Really Fray? A logical explanation why Izzy and Jace and Lydia and even Raj, as well as everyone else who is usually here, are just all gone? All on the same day? I highly doubt it." Alec snapped.

"Well, have you tried calling Magnus? Maybe Izzy and Jace got an early start on something and they needed his help?" Clary tried to reason.

"I... hadn't thought about that. Damnit. I thought I was getting better. Yeah... I'll call Magnus. You call... you call your Vampire friend." Alec said as he quickly pulled out his phone.

"Simon... you want me to call Simon." Clary stressed.

"Yes Fray, call Simon. He and Izzy have been getting close, he might know where she is." Alec said frantically as he scrolled through his contacts list before stopping on Magnus' number and hitting the call button.

With a roll of her eyes, Clary walked towards her nightstand and unplugged her phone. Unlocking it, Clary was about to click on her contacts icon when a text message blinked across her screen. Narrowing her eyes, Clary slowly opened the text before her eyes went wide and she tossed the phone away from her and onto the bed. When Alec gave her a weird look, Clary just started shaking her head.

"This isn't happening. This isn't happening. This isn't happening AGAIN!" Clary exclaimed in frustration.

"Magnus isn't answering and his phone isn't going to voicemail. What the hell happened? Why didn't you call Simon? And why did you throw your phone onto the bed?" Alec questioned in quick progression.

"I... I had a text... and... just look at who it's from..." Clary said slowly, motioning to her phone.

With his own eye roll, Alec snatched Clary's phone from the bed and what he saw made his eyes go wide as well. It couldn't be real. Not so soon after just getting Jace back. There was no way that Jace was back with Valentine. And to make matters worse, the text had been sent from Jace's phone, and it contained a picture of Jace chained up.

"This can't be real. Jace was just here... LAST NIGHT. There's no way that Valentine got into the Institute and took Jace without somebody knowing about it. It has to be a cruel, cruel joke." Alec said, more to himself than to Clary.

"But why would someone do this as a joke? Everyone here knows what we went through to get him back. No one here is that cruel..." Clary said, her voice starting to raise with hysteria.

"I can't feel him through our Parabati bond." Alec muttered.

"You don't think..." Clary started to ask.

"No. He's not dead, if he was, I would feel like half of me was missing. I don't feel that, so that's the only thing that tells me that Jace is still alive. But Valentine is cunning. He deserted the tanker ship after you and Jace escaped last time, he wouldn't be stupid enough to pull that one again." Alec said, trying to remain calm... well, to get calm.

"Then let's find _someone_ who can help us and get Jace back." Clary said as she turned and started towards her bedroom door.

"What about Izzy? And Lydia?" Alec asked.

"Jace is the first lead we have Alec. That's where we start. We will figure out where the others are and how to get them back as we go." Clary replied determinedly.

Alec had no choice but to follow her. She had a point, no matter how much he hated to admit it, even to himself, and if they were going to get their friends back, they were going to have to start agreeing and working together. Before he left the room, Alec made sure to have both of their phones in his hands. They still needed to call Simon to see if he knew anything, and Alec was going to be continuously trying to reach Magnus until he finally got ahold of his Warlock.

"Fray, wait up!" Alec called as he hurried after her. "You still haven't tried Simon. And I'm sure we could try calling Luke too. He's passing the job of Alpha to someone else, right? Wait... he doesn't know yet... does he?" He asked, his voice ridden with guilt and suddenly he couldn't meet Clary's gaze.

"No Alec, Luke doesn't know that you killed my mother. And thank you for bringing it back up." Clary snapped, and a very small part of her was proud to see the Great Alec Lightwood recoil at her tone.

"Well, well, aren't you a feisty one."

Alec and Clary both spun around at the sound of the other voice. Narrowing his eyes at the other man, Alec instinctively took a half step in front of Clary to block her from Aldertree. Alec didn't know if it was out of habit of doing the same thing with Izzy and Jace and Max, and he was now starting to see Clary as like a younger sister, or if he felt like Aldertree was a threat to Clary, but right now, it didn't matter. Alec didn't like the tone in the other man's voice more than the tone Clary had just used with him about the topic of Jocelyn.

"Where the hell is everyone else?" Clary snapped.

"Gone." Aldertree replied, an unsettling glint in his eye at the single word.

"Gone where?" Alec questioned.

"Why does it matter Alec? You and Clary need not worry about the others any longer. After all, emotions cloud judgement and while Mundanes allow themselves to be led by them, we Shadowhunters learn from a young age how to lead and control our emotions. At least, isn't that what you lectured Clary on when she first came to the Institute?" Aldertree asked as he moved closer, only for Alec and Clary to both take a step back.

"It matters because my sister is missing and my brother was taken by Valentine... again!" Alec snapped.

"Well, that is a shame about Jace, but I assure you, Izzy is just fine in Idris." Aldertree responded with a small smirk.

"What the hell are you doing to Izzy in Idris!?" Clary exclaimed.

"Oh, what would be the fun in me telling you that Clary? I would much rather enjoy you and Alec finding out for yourselves. Oh... and have either of you visited the City of Bones recently? I hear that the Silent Brothers have a new traitor being held there." Aldertree said with another smirk. "She really shouldn't have allowed things to be run the way that they were before I got here." He added before turning and walking away.

Alec waited until Aldertree was gone before turning to look at a horrorstricken Clary. They both knew who Aldertree was talking about. He had sentenced Lydia to the City of Bones. And despite not knowing why she was there, Izzy being in Idris wasn't any better news. Their friends were in more danger than either of them had originally thought, and there was no telling how long they had to save them.

"We need a game plan here Alec. Jace was captured by Valentine; Lydia was sentenced to imprisonment in the City of Bones; and Izzy is in Idris for who knows what reason or reasons. We need to save them." Clary rambled frantically.

"You're right. We do need a game plan. Go get dressed and call Simon. Or Luke. Hell, call them both. We are going to need all of the help that we can get if we are going to have any chance of getting everyone back." Alec said as he got the uneasy feeling that they were being watched.

Glancing over his shoulder, Alec didn't see Aldertree anywhere, but with video surveillance set up throughout the entire Institute, that didn't mean that he wasn't still watching them.


	2. Chapter 2

Expect the Unexpected

Chapter 2

As Clary was walking back towards her room to change, she tried calling Simon. Despite having known Simon for most of their lives, and knowing how many rings it usually took for Simon to either answer, or for his phone to go to voicemail, when it just continued to ring, Clary just became more and more concerned. When she had finally had heard enough of it ringing, with no answer and it not going to voicemail, Clary let out a frustrated yell. What the hell was going on? First Magnus wasn't answering when Alec had tried calling him, and now Simon wasn't answering when Clary tried calling. Was there some kind of Downworlder dampener that wasn't allowing calls to go through?

When she turned the corner, Clary caught sight of a shadow at the other end of the hallway and despite breaking into a full-on run, by the time she reached the other end, the shadow had vanished, as if it had never existed in the first place. With an apprehensive feeling coursing through her body, Clary walked back towards her room only to get the sense that she was being followed. Half turning her head, Clary could have sworn that she saw that shadow again, but when she turned fully, it was gone. With a frustrated sigh, Clary turned, once again, back towards her bedroom, only to let out a shriek and jumping slightly when she saw Alec standing by her door, silently watching her.

"What the hell Alec? You couldn't have, oh I don't know, made a noise or something to let me know that you were there?" Clary asked as she moved past him and went into her room, closing the door most of the way while she got something to change into.

"That's not how I operate. Did you call the Vampire?" Alec asked.

"For the last time, Alec, his name is Simon. How would you feel if he went around just referring to you, as 'Shadowhunter'?" Clary asked.

"I wouldn't mind. It's who I am." Alec replied with a shrug.

"Whatever." Clary muttered in response while pulling her jeans and a black tank top on.

"You almost done Fray? Every second that we stay here is another second that we lose in being able to save our friends." Alec asked as he lightly hit his head against the wall next to the doorframe.

"You know, for someone who was freaking out earlier and then told me to go get dressed, you can be a little less of an ass." Clary snapped as she fitted her thigh holster into place and put her seraph blade and stele into it. "You can come in now... if you want to." She added.

"I'm good. I already spent more than enough time in your room this morning." Alec bit out.

"Suit yourself."

This was going to be difficult. They could barely get along in the best of circumstances. How were they supposed to work together and get along while trying to find and save Jace, Izzy and Lydia? Not to mention the fact that Alec being possessed by that demon and killing Jocelyn was still fresh in both of their minds, and they could barely look each other in the eye when it was brought up earlier. Clary could not see any way for them to get through this without killing each other, but they didn't have a choice.

"Why didn't you call Simon?" Alec asked.

"I did... he didn't answer. And it never went to voicemail." Clary replied as she walked into the hallway while putting her hair into a ponytail.

"Neither Magnus nor Simon are answering? Do we know any other Downworlders other than Luke?" Alec asked glancing anywhere but at Clary.

"Well, I haven't tried Luke yet, but we know Raphael." Clary replied.

"Let's go. We need to get moving. We can call them on our way to the City of Bones." Alec said before grasping Clary's upper arm and pulling her along behind him.

"You know that I can walk myself, right? I don't need you to pull me along." Clary bit out as she pulled her arm out of Alec's grip. "And is there a particular reason as to why we are going to save Lydia first? What about Izzy and Jace?" She added.

"We can easily get to Lydia in the City of Bones. We need a portal to get to Izzy in Idris and we don't know where Valentine is holding Jace. If Lydia had any say in anything that was going on, she might know how we can save the others." Alec explained as he power walked ahead of Clary, causing her to jog to keep up with him.

"Look, I know that we are racing against an unknown clock here, but you are considerably taller than I am, so can you like, not walk so fast?" Clary asked.

"My brother and sister are in danger. The woman I was going to marry is in prison. I'm sorry you are so short, but when my family is in danger, I don't walk idly. Now either keep up and keep your mouth shut, or keep up and make yourself useful by calling someone else that might be able to help us." Alec snapped as he abruptly stopped and turned to face her, causing Clary to run into his body.

"Screw you Lightwood. You aren't the only one that cares about them. I might not have grown up with Izzy and Jace, but they are as much my family at this point as they are yours. Jace is _**MY**_ brother by _**BLOOD**_. And it's _**MY**_ father who took him... _**AGAIN**_! So, don't you dare talk down to me." Clary fired back.

"You know nothing about how this family works!" Alec shouted.

"THAT'S NOT MY DAMN FAULT LIGHTWOOD! I didn't ask to be raised away from this world. That choice was made by my _**MOTHER**_ when I was a _**BABY**_! So, stop treating me like I asked to be lied to every day of my life!" Clary yelled knowing that if it weren't for their invisibility runes, they would be drawing stares from the people that were walking by the Institute. "And let me remind you that it was my _**MOTHER**_ that asked your _**BOYFRIEND**_ to wipe my memories of the Shadow World for _**YEARS**_. If I had had a choice in anything growing up, I would have chosen to grow up in this world. But I didn't, so stop making me feel bad for something that was out of my control." She added before pushing past him and walking away.

"CLARY!" Alec called after her.

"SCREW YOU ALEC!" She shot over her shoulder.

"DAMN IT FRAY, LISTEN TO ME!" Alec snapped catching up to her and grabbing her elbow to turn her to face him.

"WHAT!?" Clary exclaimed.

"Don't you DARE talk about Magnus that way. This is not HIS fault!" Alec said, his voice dangerously low.

"You are unbelievable. I'm not saying it's Magnus' fault!" Clary exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air. "You don't get it, do you?" She asked with a deep breath. "Look, us fighting isn't doing anything to help our friends. Let's just drop it and go get Lydia out of the City of Bones." She concluded.

"Fine. You've been there more recently than I have. You lead the way." Alec said with a smirk.

Clary gave Alec a glare before turning on her heel and starting in the direction of the City of Bones. He knew that she had gone there to see Jace when he had been imprisoned before his trial for helping Valentine in the first place. Clary wasn't sure if she was more surprised or annoyed that Alec knew. But now was not the time to dwell on it. They needed to save Lydia and then they needed to find and save the others. For the rest of the trek to the City of Bones, Clary and Alec refused to speak to each other, and neither of them looked at the other. Alec felt like if they did look at each other, or if they spoke again, that it would just end with them yelling at each other again, and that had already proved to be counterproductive. And it was starting to feel like they could, just maybe accomplish this whole thing, but as the neared the entrance, there was a figure leaning against the wall next to the door, his back facing them, and his blonde hair reflecting the still rising sun's rays. At first when Clary saw him, she thought it was Jace and that maybe, just maybe, they had been right to think that the picture of Jace chained up was a horrible hoax, but Alec caught her arm and raised his bow, an arrow already in place, aiming it right at the blond figure.

"Who the hell are you?" Alec called out, sincerely hoping his voice didn't betray his already growing paranoia.

"The name is Sebastian Verlac. You may call me Seb, if you wish, Alexander Lightwood." The blond said as he turned to face Clary and Alec.

"You look..." Clary started.

"What are you doing here?" Alec asked, cutting her off.

"Same as you, I would suppose. I came on behalf of the Clave to talk to Lydia Branwell." Sebastian said with a shrug.

"Then why aren't you inside? Why are you waiting out here?" Alec questioned.

"The Clave was tipped off that you two were looking for your friends, and that you were informed that Ms. Branwell was here. The Clave can't allow either of you to talk to her." Sebastian replied before shifting his eyes to Clary. "It's nice to meet you Clarissa. I'm sorry to hear about your mother, Jocelyn. The Clave sends their greatest sympathies over her loss. We were so looking forward to having her back in Idris." He added with a smirk.

"Don't you dare talk about my mother like you knew her." Clary spat out.

"Clary, calm down." Alec muttered under his breath, not bothering to lower his bow.

"You two should really be on your way." Sebastian said.

"We aren't leaving until we get to talk to Lydia." Clary said defiantly.

"But see, you aren't going to be able to save Jace, or Isabelle, if you wait around to be able to talk to Lydia." Sebastian baited.

"What have you done to my brother and sister?" Alec asked, his arm straining at holding the string on his bow back for so long.

" _I_ haven't done anything to them Alexander." Sebastian stressed.

"Alec, let's just go." Clary said as she gently placed a hand on Alec's arm.

"Scared Clarissa?" Sebastian questioned with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Of you, not a chance." Clary snapped.

"Oh, you should be." Sebastian threatened and before Clary could stop him, Alec let the arrow fly.

Neither he nor Clary stuck around to see if it hit its target because as soon as Alec had released the string, they had both turned and ran as fast as they could. They ran until they couldn't breathe, and when they stopped to get their surroundings, they realized that they were close to Magnus' apartment and after a moment or two of rest, both took off running again, this time with a destination in mind. They only hoped that Magnus would be home and would be able to help them.


	3. Chapter 3

Expect the Unexpected

Chapter 3

 **SPOILER ALERT:** **IF YOU HAVE NOT YET READ THE BOOK SERIES, THERE IS MENTION OF WHO CLARY'S BROTHER IS IN THIS CHAPTER, AND THEREFORE, MIGHT RUIN PART OF THE BOOKS AND/OR FUTURE EPISODES OF SEASON TWO FOR YOU. SO PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.**

By the time that Alec and Clary were standing outside the door to Magnus' apartment, they were both thoroughly out of breath. And after banging on the door for a few minutes, and no answer, Alec pulled out his stele and unlocked the door. Opening the door wide enough for Clary to slip inside and then following her in, Alec made sure that there wasn't anyone following them before closing the door and locking it again behind him. When he turned around, Alec saw Clary already going from room to room, trying to find the Warlock.

"Magnus! MAGNUS!" Clary called frantically before hurrying back into the living room holding a piece of clothing that Alec knew did _not_ belong to his Warlock.

"Whose jacket is that?" Alec questioned suspiciously.

"It's Simon's. And this looks like a piece of Raphael's suit." Clary said as she held up the second piece of clothing in her hands.

"What the hell is going on?" Alec asked. "Magnus and Simon aren't answering their phones; and now we get to Magnus' apartment, he's nowhere to be found and Simon's jacket and a piece of Raphael's suit are both here. I'm starting to think that we aren't going to be able to get ahold of any of them." Alec said sullenly.

"Maybe we could find a clue or something here on where they are. Or how to save Jace, Izzy and Lydia." Clary suggested.

"I highly doubt that Magnus would leave a clue if he was going to disappear." Alec said with a guarded look in his eye.

"Alec, I think we both know Magnus well enough to know that he would want you to know that he's okay. He really cares about you Alec, he wouldn't want you to think he was in danger." Clary tried to reason.

"She's right Alec."

Alec turned quickly at the sound of Magnus' voice. But his Warlock wasn't there. Alec kept turning, hoping to see Magnus wasn't there. When he stopped turning, the look on Clary's face was one that he never expected to see from her. It was concern... concern specifically for him. It made Alec feel like he was losing his sanity.

"What's wrong Alec?" Clary asked slowly.

"I heard him." Alec said, his eyes still darting around the room.

"You heard who? Magnus?" Clary questioned.

"Yes Fray, I heard Magnus!" Alec snapped.

"He doesn't mean to take his anger out on you Clary."

Clary yelped at hearing Jace's voice. Doing the same thing that Alec had just done, Clary turned in a rapid circle, trying to find her brother. He wasn't there either.

"AHHHH!" Clary yelled as she fell to her knees and held her head in her hands.

"CLARY!" Alec shouted as he hurried to her side. "Talk to me Clary, what's happening?" He asked as he pulled her into his arms.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Clary screamed as she tried to push Alec away from her.

"CLARY, IT'S ME! IT'S ALEC! I NEED YOU TO RELAX!" Alec exclaimed as he tried to snap her out of whatever was happening.

Clary was frantically trying to get her seraph blade out of her thigh holster, but it wasn't working. Her hands were trembling and she couldn't get the clasp that held it in place undone to take it out. The harder she tried to get it out, the more her hands trembled until she just gave up and sobbed in Alec's chest, simply resorting to half-ass hitting him to try and get him to let her go. Not knowing what else to do, Alec just held Clary in his arms as she eventually sobbed herself to sleep. Once he was sure she was asleep, he picked her up and carried her to Magnus' room. Surely wherever his warlock was, he wouldn't mind that was essentially offering his bed to Clary.

After he had Clary settled, Alec walked back to the living room, half-hoping that Magnus would be standing there. Or Jace, or Izzy. But they weren't. Jace was with Valentine, again; and Izzy was in Idris, for whatever reason; and Magnus was only the Angel Raziel knew where. But it was still earlier enough in the day that Alec couldn't just sit around and do nothing. He knew that Lydia was being imprisoned at the City of Bones. And that was as good a place as any to start looking into things. And to do that, he needed to start from the top: Aldertree. He would have been the only one at the Institute that would have had any kind of authority to sentence Lydia to imprisonment, but Alec needed to figure out what motives Aldertree would have for doing that. Remembering Aldertree's words from earlier when he had taunted Alec and Clary about Lydia's location, Alec set to work.

 **S: TMI – ETU – S: TMI**

 _The bow, burning white hot in her hands, slowly raised, a fiery arrow in place. Six posts stood 100 feet away, her friends, her brother, tied to them: Jace... Izzy... Simon... Lydia... Magnus... Raphael. Hot, thick tears fell from her eyes as a light voice whispered in her ear, telling her to let the arrow go free; to let it hit its target- her target. The voice was telling her to kill Jace first. To kill her brother. She could feel a body, warm and solid, mere inches from her back, hands lightly guiding her movements in drawing the string with the bow back. She couldn't do it. She couldn't shoot a flaming arrow at Jace. The voice told her to kill her brother. Closing her eyes, she took a step forward, away from the person standing behind her, aimed the arrow at him instead, and let the arrow fly the short distance. As the arrow hit his chest, he lifted his head with a yell of agony, and she saw his face. The boy from the City of Bones... Sebastian._

 _She couldn't focus. The images flashed in rapidly slow motion as she started to stir from a restless sleep. The voice, now being recognized as belonging to Sebastian, had told her to kill her brother, but she couldn't shoot Jace. No, not Jace. Jace couldn't be her brother. He just couldn't. It was her Shadowhunter instinct (if that was a thing) that was telling her that Jace wasn't her blood. And it was that same instinct that had led her to shoot Sebastian with the flaming arrow instead. But right before the scene completely faded, the white-hot burning coming from the bow started to burn her hands. She dropped the bow to the grass at her feet letting out a scream._

 **S: TMI – ETU – S: TMI**

Clary sat up, frantically looking around. She didn't know where she was, but suddenly Alec was there, saying something, and it was at that point that Clary realized that she was still screaming. Taking deep breaths, Clary tried to stop screaming and to listen to what Alec was saying. It wasn't too hard... he was only saying her name and asking if she was okay. Not trusting her voice, Clary shook her head. With a sigh, Alec sat down on the bed by her legs and tentatively rubbed her leg in what she could only assume was supposed to be a comforting manner. It took a few minutes, but after some more deep breaths, Clary felt like she would be able to tell Alec what happened.

"I'll be fine Alec. It was just a nightmare." Clary said in a small voice.

"Clary, that scream sounded like you were being tortured in your sleep." Alec commented after a moment.

"Just my subconscious playing horrible tricks on my mind." Clary replied with a shrug.

"Are you sure that's all it was Clarissa?"

Alec was on his feet and standing in front of Clary in a blink of an eye, his seraph blade pointed straight at Sebastian. The more Clary looked at him, the more she lost what her nightmare was about. Usually that wouldn't have bothered her, but that's not how nightmares worked. They stuck with you while dreams slipped away. But no, what she had seen and experienced in her nightmare couldn't have been a dream, could it? No. It had to have been a nightmare. But then, why was it rapidly leaving her head the longer Sebastian stared at her, and she at him, both staring at the other around Alec.

"How did you get in here Verlac?" Alec asked.

"Not important Alexander. What is important is that Clarissa answer _my_ question. Are you sure that it was just your subconscious playing horrible tricks on your mind, dear girl?" Sebastian asked again.

"That's none of your business Verlac. Now answer _my_ question. How did you get in here?" Alec snapped.

"This isn't your apartment Alexander; you have no say on who does and doesn't get to come in. How do you know that I haven't met Magnus before, and he gave me permission to stay here if I were to ever be in New York? You are still only starting to explore your relationship with the Warlock. There is still so much about him that you don't know. It could take years to find out everything. After all, he is a few centuries old. It could take you centuries, centuries that you don't possess, to learn everything about him. Which could really put a damper on the relationship. Not that it matters really. Magnus Bane isn't going to be around here any time soon, so you might want to resign yourself to the fact that you aren't going to be getting to know him." Sebastian said with a smirk.

"Go to hell Verlac." Alec said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I've already been there. It's quite nice." Sebastian replied and with that he was gone.

"By the Angel I hate him." Alec muttered under his breath as he turned back to Clary. "You sure you're going to be okay Fray?" He asked when she saw her blank stare stuck on the spot where Sebastian had just been standing.

"I think my nightmare had something to do with him." Clary said slowly as her eyes moved to look up at Alec. "I just can't remember what it was about anymore." She finished.

Alec watched Clary closely as she continued to stare at the spot that Sebastian had been standing in. The longer she stared, the more confused she seemed to be. Finally, Alec had had enough and snapped in front of her face to get her out of her daze.

"I think I found a way to save the others." Alec said as he sat back down on the bed.

"Where are we?" Clary asked.

"Seriously?" Alec asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, Alec, I don't remember where we are. I remember us waking up to an empty Institute, and then going to the City of Bones to try and save Lydia, but I don't remember much after that." Clary said giving the older Shadowhunter a confused.

"Clary... we're at Magnus' apartment. We came here after that jackass was waiting outside the City of Bones for us." Alec replied after a few minutes.

"But Magnus isn't a jackass..." Clary replied slowly.

"I wasn't saying that he was... I was talking about Sebastian." Alec said, trying to refrain from asking the girl if she was losing her mind at the thought of Jace being back with Valentine.

"Who's Sebastian again?" Clary asked.

"What the hell is wrong with you Clary? Sebastian was just here!" Alec exclaimed.

"Alec... I think someone is messing with my memory. But it's different than last time." Clary said as what she was feeling hit her.

Clary knew she had felt like this before. It felt vaguely like all the times that Magnus had taken her memories of the Shadow World while she was growing up. But at the same time, it didn't feel anything like those times. This was clearly different, and it had something to do with the guy... the one that Alec had mentioned... the one whose name she couldn't remember even though he had just said it. This was not going to help them in saving their friends.


End file.
